King Ian Y, Manning Wendy D, Longmore Monica A, Giordano Peggy C
Department of Sociology, and Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.
Ohio J Public Health. 2022;4(2):34-42. doi: 10.18061/ojph.v4i2.8352. Epub 2022 Jan 28.
The health belief model suggests that individuals' beliefs affect behaviors associated with health. This study examined whether Ohioans' pre-existing medical health diagnoses affected their belief about personal health risk and their compliance with social distancing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Prior research examining physical and mental diagnoses and social distancing compliance is nearly nonexistent. We examined whether physical and mental health diagnoses influenced individuals' beliefs that their health is at risk and their adherence with social distancing guidelines.
The study used longitudinal cohort data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 790), which surveyed Ohioans prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dependent variables included belief that an individual's own health was at risk and social distancing compliance. Independent variables included physical and mental health diagnoses, pandemic-related factors (fear of COVID-19, political beliefs about the pandemic, friends social distance, family social distance, COVID-19 exposure), and sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational level).
Individuals who had a pre-existing physical health diagnosis were more likely to believe that their personal health was at risk during the pandemic but were not more likely to comply with social distancing guidelines. In contrast, individuals who had a pre-existing mental health diagnosis were more compliant with social distancing guidelines but were not more likely to believe their personal health was at risk. Individuals who expressed greater fear of COVID-19 believed their health is more at risk than those who expressed lower levels of fear.
Health considerations are important to account for in assessments of responses to the pandemic, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing behavior. Additional research is needed to understand the divergence in the findings regarding physical health, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing compliance. Further, research is needed to understand how mental health issues impact decision-making related to social distancing compliance.
健康信念模型表明，个体的信念会影响与健康相关的行为。本研究调查了俄亥俄州人先前存在的医疗健康诊断是否会影响他们对个人健康风险的信念以及在2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间对社交距离的遵守情况。之前几乎不存在研究身体和精神诊断与社交距离遵守情况的相关研究。我们研究了身体和精神健康诊断是否会影响个体对自身健康处于风险中的信念以及他们对社交距离指导方针的遵守情况。
该研究使用了托莱多青少年关系研究（TARS）的纵向队列数据（n = 790），该研究在COVID-19大流行之前和期间对俄亥俄州人进行了调查。因变量包括个体认为自己的健康处于风险中的信念以及社交距离遵守情况。自变量包括身体和精神健康诊断、与大流行相关的因素（对COVID-19的恐惧、关于大流行的政治信念、朋友的社交距离、家人的社交距离、COVID-19暴露情况）以及社会人口统计学变量（年龄、性别、种族/民族、教育水平）。
先前存在身体健康诊断的个体在大流行期间更有可能认为自己的个人健康处于风险中，但不太可能遵守社交距离指导方针。相比之下，先前存在心理健康诊断的个体更遵守社交距离指导方针，但不太可能认为自己的个人健康处于风险中。表达对COVID-19更大恐惧的个体比表达较低恐惧水平的个体更认为自己的健康处于风险中。
在评估对大流行的反应、对个人健康风险的信念以及社交距离行为时，健康因素很重要。需要进一步研究以了解在身体健康、对个人健康风险的信念以及社交距离遵守情况方面研究结果的差异。此外，需要研究以了解心理健康问题如何影响与社交距离遵守相关的决策。
